The network has given a 10-episode series order to Dracula, a series inspired by the classic Bram Stoker character starringThe Tudors‘ Jonathan Rhys Meyers as the titular character, NBC Chairman Bob Greenblatt announced Tuesday at the Television Critics Association fall TV previews.

The series will introduce Dracula as he arrives in London, posing as an American entrepreneur who maintains that he wants to bring modern science to Victorian society. In reality, he’s seeking revenge on the people who ruined his life centuries earlier. There’s only one circumstance that can potentially thwart his plan: Dracula falls hopelessly in love with a woman who seems to be a reincarnation of his dead wife…

Okay, so he doesn’t look like that anymore. But he should, dammit. He should. Especially since the only reason we can think of for the existence of this series is to feature Rhys Meyer’s sorta-dangerous sorta-sensuality.

Because what else can any version of Dracula give us that’s new? This one, when you get down to it, sounds a hell of a lot like the original, TV version of DARK SHADOWS, with Drac replacing Barnabas, who originally existed to replace Drac.

Which makes us realize how much we’d love to see a however-long-it-takes serialization of the actual, you know, Bram Stoker book…the one that scared us bloodless when we first read it at about 12.